The present invention relates generally to drink containers, and more particularly to automatically sealing lid assemblies for automatically sealing beverages within drink containers.
Cups are drink containers that are in common use today. Users drink from cups under a wide variety of circumstances in which the beverages are highly susceptible to being unintentionally spilled. These circumstances include, for example, operation of a vehicle, participation in sports, walking, etc. Due to the fluid nature of beverages, spills commonly occur through the open mouths of cups when the cups are jarred, tipped, dropped, or otherwise subjected to sudden movements.
Spills also frequently result from opening sealed drink containers having unexpected pressure build-up therein. For example, jarring a sealed container having a carbonated beverage therein typically causes the pressure to increase therein. Subsequently opening the container typically causes the beverage to unexpectedly gush out of the opening due to the pressure build up. Further, sealed containers having hot beverages contained therein may similarly release a small burst of hot steam upon opening the container. Since users obviously wish to prevent accidental spills, it is desirable to secure the beverage within the cup without adversely increasing the pressure therein.
One proposed solution for eliminating accidental spills associated with cups employs the use of a lid that snaps onto the rim of a cup. These lids are commonly found in fast food restaurants and coffee outlets. The lid has one or more holes to allow a user to access the beverage. By reducing the size of the opening through which the beverage exits the cup, the likelihood of spills is subsequently reduced.
However, these lids fail to eliminate accidental spills because the beverage may still escape through the opening despite its reduced size. For instance, jarring the cup can cause the beverage to splash out of the cup through its opening even though the cup may be in an upright position. Moreover, the beverage can still pour out of the cup through the opening if the cup is tipped onto its side. If the cup is dropped, the lid can be dislodged from the cup and the entire contents of the cup can be lost.
Another proposed solution involves a cup and a lid that is secured to the cup by a threaded engagement. One variation of this solution further requires a lid having a hole formed therein for the purpose of allowing a straw to pass through the lid. This variation also includes a cap to be manually placed on the end of the straw in order to seal the beverage within the cup. Another variation involves a pop-up vent on the lid which seals the cup when the vent is manually pushed down and permits beverage to exit the cup when the vent is pulled up.
In both variations, the threaded engagement secures the lid to the cup to prevent the lid from being dislodged from the cup if it is dropped. Both variations also effectively prevent a beverage from splashing out of the cup if the cup is jarred in a substantially upright position. However, unless the user manually places the cap onto the straw or pushes down the pop-up vent, the beverage can spill out of the cup if it is tipped onto its side.
Yet another proposed solution is an automatically sealing drink container as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,866. Unfortunately, while the cup disclosed therein has improved sealability, it requires the use of a straw, which may be undesirable. Further, it is difficult to clean portions of the cup. This is disadvantageous in that if these cups are frequently reused, such as for children, they must be cleaned and washed before and after each use.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved automatically sealing drink container, and for a cup which eliminates spills while it is in a sealed configuration. Also, there is a need for such a cup which further permits the user to readily clean the entire cup device.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to automatically seal a drink container having a beverage contained therein so as to prevent accidental spills caused by agitation of the drink container and the beverage.
Another object of the present invention is to allow the release of gas from within a sealed drink container in order to prevent a build up of pressure therein and avoid causing a beverage from gushing thereout upon unsealing the container.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an automatically sealing lid assembly that is constructed in such a manner so as to permit a user to properly sanitize the entire assembly.
In accordance with the above and other objects of the present invention, an automatically sealing lid assembly is provided. The automatically sealing lid assembly includes a cap portion selectively coupled to a drink container so as to cover an opening of the drink container. The cap portion has a sip hole and a vent hole integrally formed therein. The cap portion also has a disk portion rotatably coupled thereto and moveable between a sealed configuration and an unsealed configuration. The disk portion has a sip plug and a vent plug. The sip plug seals the sip hole in the sealed configuration. Likewise, the vent plug seals the vent hole in the sealed configuration. The cap portion and the disk portion have a biasing member operatively coupled therebetween. The biasing member biases the disk portion to the sealed configuration. The disk portion has a plunger operatively coupled thereto for selectively moving the disk portion to the unsealed configuration.
One advantage of the present invention is that the lid assembly automatically seals the drink container so as to avoid accidental spills. Another advantage of the present invention is that components of the lid assembly are detachable to permit proper sanitation of the entire assembly. It is yet another advantage of the present invention that gas is released from within the drink container so as to avoid undesirable bursts of steam or accidental spills resulting from the beverage gushing out of the drink container.
Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent when viewed in light of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings and appended claims.